Ex-Atletico Madrid star reveals Diego Simeone's nickname for Lionel Messi so players wouldn't fear him

An ex-Atletico Madrid player has revealed the nickname that Diego Simeone gave Lionel Messi to ensure that his team was not afraid of him when they played.

Filipe Luis has been in the news as of late, most recently for apologising to Angel Di Maria for bringing up his wife, distracting him in a game between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid over 10 years ago.

The Brazilian is now back in the headlines, as he has revealed the nickname that was given to mercurial Argentinian Lionel Messi by his former manager Diego Simeone when they played against Barcelona.

Filipe Luis played for Atletico Madrid from 2010-2014, then again from 2015-2019, and during this period Messi became one of the best and most feared players in world football at Barcelona.

Simeone took charge of Atletico in 2011, and still manages the side but Luis said that the Argentinian manager had a nickname for Messi to ensure that his team was not afraid of him.

The former defender explained to the Charla Podcast (translation via Barca Universal): "Before the matches against Barcelona, Simeone didn't say Messi's name... He used to call him 'The Midget' so that we would not be afraid of him."

A condescending nickname to say the least, but the fear factor around Messi would have been lessened, if not removed.

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Despite this tactic by Simeone though, it couldn't really stop Messi as in 43 appearances against Atletico, Messi managed 32 goals and nine assists in all competitions, with 26 goals in just 30 league appearances.

It goes to show just how unstoppable Messi was in his prime, as one of the most defensively astute teams in Europe in Atletico Madrid under Simeone just couldn't stop the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.

The nickname may have helped his players momentarily, but the Argentinian was near enough unplayable when he got going.